the place where we are
by nothingwillsuffice
Summary: Following the conclusion of the war with Alvarez, Jellal and Erza find a traditional Joyan home on the outskirts of town to lead simpler lives.
1. Getting There

Breath enters him easily-- it always has. There is nothing quite as satisfactory to Jellal as taking a deep breath in, feeling said breath fill your lungs, and then releasing said breath so that it may take stress along with it. He has practiced this even as a child-- especially as a child-- to free himself of troublesome, earthly concerns and frustrations. He didn't have as much time as he wanted to do so in the Tower, but now he has all the time in the world.

So he inhales, and he exhales; then he inhales, and he exhales. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.

The sound of footsteps penetrates his veil of silence but Jellal keep his focus. He has waited decades for this chance--

"Jellal?"

He exhales heavily. "What is it?"

A few more breaths are taken before his question is answered and Jellal knows the matter is going to be trivial.

". . . Is, uh, Erza around?"

"No. Why?"

"Do you know where she hid my stuff?"

"Get out of my house, Natsu."

Jellal's eyes are closed, but he knows the Dragon Slayer is sulking. Any other day he might take pity on him but despite his breathing exercises Jellal has no patience for the extraneous or trifling. Besides, if Erza finds out that he has given charity to Natsu of all people-- again-- she will become his biggest problem.

Jellal heaves another sigh once he hears Natsu step out. He wonders how the troublemaker got in as he stands to find the broom and sweep the sensitive floors because he knows that Natsu neglected to stop at the genkan and take off his shoes leaving him to track dirt and sand through the house. After cleaning Natsu's mess, Jellal supposes he should sweep the rest of the house; it has been a few days since he's done it all. Though there is only him and Erza so it isn't much to do.

The house tidy, Jellal finds his peace again in the gardens. He sits on the engawa as it were a veranda, looking out into the open space he's cultivated himself. It has been little more than a year since his pardon and he has been working on his garden for almost just as long. He likes to visit everyday and see it flourishing well; it secures his hope that peace will last.

Jellal returns to his meditation and clears his mind. He finds that it's hard to maintain focus today so he opts for aimlessly musing instead.

It's easy to take note of the silence that stretches on. To others it might seem to go on forever, but Jellal knows that it's very fragile. He takes every moment of quiet he can get and cherishes it. It's important. Because life happens and there may come another time in his life where quiet and peace don't exist, and he's not foreign to disappointment.

"Tadaima," a strong voice calls as the front door opens.

Jellal thanks her for straying his mind from its typical path; it has become a habit to think with a pessimistic outlook ever since he was released from prison by Ultear. Thinking optimistically has actually hurt him at one point in time and he's determined to make it the opposite.

"Okaeri." He responds to her as she sheds her shoes and armor in the genkan. He stands to greet her by the tokonoma.

"How was the job?"

"Alright," Erza says, "How are you? You're not bored or anything, are you?"

Jellal brings her close and kisses the top of her head. He smiles into her hair.

"Unfortunately, no."

Erza raises a brow at him and Jellal knows she doesn't understand. He hasn't expected her to; Erza likes to have something to occupy herself with always but he rathers boredom; being bored means having nothing to do. He has waited a long time for absolutely nothing.

"I haven't prepared dinner yet," he tells her as they walk further into the house, "What are you in the mood for?"

Erza uses her magic again as she steps out of the room. The door is open behind her just long enough for Jellal to see the bare skin of her thigh and he knows she's headed for the furo. She calls to him through the shoji.

"Surprise me."


	2. Idle Fears

Erza wakes up and everything feels right with the world. She can't quite explain why, she just senses a universal correctness. Rising from her futon she realizes perhaps it is because Jellal has slept beside her for the past year and still has not left her. She's been counting the days; her paranoia about him is strong and so it was with little resistance that she began to count the days in her head.

Day 366.

Despite feeling secure, Erza has her worries and continues her daily ritual. She takes account of the day, kisses Jellal on the cheek, then goes to the kitchen to start breakfast. It is going to be a lengthy process because she is sleepy and not all that good at cooking, but Jellal will sleep late.

It had amazed her the first few weeks. As a child, she would have never imagined Jellal to be the type of person to sleep in and she can say with confidence that Jellal would not have imagined himself sleeping in either. But they are not children anymore. Many things have happened to them both and he has gotten the short end regarding the paths they've taken to get to where they are; he's tired. Perhaps in a few years he'll begin to rise early but for now he's getting the rest he deserves.

It is with somber joy that Erza makes them breakfast.

When he awakes, she knows it. He always gets up silently and then walks to the engawa to open the amado and let in sunlight. She hears him slide the wooden doors aside and walk the hallways to the genkan, then step out into his garden and water the growing plants. By the time he's done checking on things and washing up she has the dining room situated.

He sits down to the chabudai with a smile on his face that has become constant. It is Erza's favorite sight to see in the morning.

"How did you rest?" she asks as they take their chopsticks into their hands. Jellal's eyes are full of nothing but relief.

"I slept."

Erza smiles back to him. They mutter a quick "Itadakimasu," before beginning to eat.

Erza is glad that Jellal has finally slept; he was restless for the longest time. Nightmares seemed to plague him every night and she didn't know what else to do besides be there. According to him they had been a nuisance ever since he'd woken from Nirvana and only got worse once the war with Alvarez concluded. She imagines he is afraid of losing everything he's fought for and that the peace won't last-- not once did it ever seem to remain for either of them. But he understands that they are okay now and that is all that matters.

When breakfast is done, Erza washes the dishes. She tells Jellal to rest again, knowing that he needs it. He does as she asks with a faint nod and Erza also knows that he will wake up wanting a snack, so she sets aside a bowl of rice for him and goes to wash up. The tatami floors don't give away that she is leaving before he falls asleep but Erza is aware that Jellal plans to awake alone.

He doesn't like sweets, so she leaves a cup of bitter tea next to his rice as an apology.


	3. The Arc of Time

Though he has little desire to fight again, Jellal is an intellectual with buckets of free time; he needs something mentally stimulating every now and then lest he feel as if he's growing dumb. So after doing his laundry for the week and watering the garden, Jellal sits down on the futon in his room and picks up a large book on magic.

The diversity and capability of magic comes only second to the science in his mind. It is intriguing how many aspects come into play when regarding a magic type, then the magic itself, and how and why ethernano reacts to create different forms of magic based on those aspects. He's found it most enjoyable to study magics and learn them, if only for the sake. Thinking back, Jellal recalls learning as many magic types as he could while building the Tower. While the Tower isn't necessarily a good memory or medium, it stands as a point in his life where he pursued his magical interests.

On that note, the Spriggan Twelve mage August was a disappointment. Despite defeating both him and his entire guild, the man who was fabled to have mastered all forms of magic was a fraud; in technicality, his skill was true as his copy magic allowed him to instantaneously master any magic he came across, but Jellal does not see this as true mastery: it is more of a clever cheat. Jellal has had hope that mastering all forms of magic, forgotten and remembered, is possible within a single ordinary lifetime in the traditional way. There is still hope, but the answer is more uncertain than before.

The concept of copy magic then raptures his attention and he turns the pages in his book to find it. There is no extensive information so he searches his other books and upon finding nothing of interest gives up. Jellal contemplates which magic he should attempt to master first after the fact. Looking around, his eyes find a chest he's sealed for privacy purposes and he immediately has an idea.

It's risky though. . .

He opens the chest anyway and finds the opaque orb Ultear used for the forgotten Arc of Time magic. With careful fingers Jellal takes it out of the chest, reseals the chest with a magic encryption lock, and takes the orb over to his futon and his books. He searches a while for an extensive article and finds only one, but that is enough.

After reading on Arc of Time magic for the next hour, he reaches several conclusions: Arc of Time magic is truly a Holder Type magic and is administered through an orb medium; Ultear treated the art as if it were an independent magic and used herself as the medium, wrongly utilizing the orb; and time is subjective, therefore what counts as controlling time is truly controlling the subject of what "time" presides over and causing "time" to realign itself with its subject, consequently "rewinding" or "fast-forwarding" "time."

Still, Jellal knows it's not that simple. Ultear aged considerably after rewinding time by mere seconds. He then refers to the book for information that may hint to a solution for this issue and figures that Ultear must have turned back all time whilst incorrectly administering the magic. He doesn't want to turn back all time, subjective to the human race-- he only wants a few minutes of his own time, subjective to himself-- and he knows how to properly manipulate a castor weapon. Jellal carefully fiddles with the amount of ethernano release and overarching intent to achieve this. He then focuses on a specific moment in "time" he wants to "rewind" to.

Just as he thinks he's figured it out, he's suddenly standing by the genkan with the orb in one of his hands and Erza in the other. Erza breaks the kiss from earlier in the day that he "rewinded" to looking confused. She stares at him questioningly, probably wondering what has happened. Instead of voicing her inquiry, she pecks his lips and sets out for the day.

A sly grin stretches across Jellal's face at his success.

He waits about ten minutes out of caution and regard for her schedule before tampering with "time" again. He "rewinds" to the same moment as before. Again Erza looks at him with a question in her gaze and her lips in a firm line. If she takes notice of the artifact in his hand she doesn't let him know.

"Does anything feel odd to you?" she asks with suspicion.

Jellal smiles innocently. "Nothing at all, love. Why?"

"I just had a strange de ja vu. . ."

Erza eyes him for just a second more. She pecks his lips and sets out for the day once more when she doesn't find whatever it is she's looking for. Jellal waits ten minutes before repeating his scheme. Unable to resist temptation, he repeats the kiss several times over.

The eighth time, Erza mumbles against his lips, "I know what you're doing, and it's very clever," She backs away with her brows furrowed and looks pointedly at the orb in his hand. Jellal feels a spike of worry. But instead of getting angry, Erza places a hand to her stomach and clenches her jaw. "However, it's making me nauseous. Stop or you'll have strawberry cake on the floor to clean up next."

Jellal chuckles nervously despite her calm demeanor because he knows he's going to pay for this later.


End file.
